El Topo (Alejandro Jodorowsky) is not a particularly sympathic person, to say the least. On the same time he is a mystic and mythic individual, claiming himself to be God. He is not the first and not the last.
He is a mixture between a classic gunfighter à la Wild West and a samurai à la Wild East.
His goal is to confront a number of warrior Masters in order to reach a higher state of consciousness and on the same time fight those demons having haunted him for so long.
However, the journey starts with him taking his 6 year old son (Brontis Jodorowsky) into the dessert in order to make him bury his childhood totems and thus become a man.
El Topo later arrives in a village where bandits have slaughtered most people and now want to rape the young woman belonging to their leader. El Topo intervenes and avenges the massacred villagers, taking the woman as his.
Her name is Mara (not Rooney Mara but Mara Lorenzio). He rides away with Mara and leaves his son with some monks who also had been harassed by the bandits. El Topo's son becomes totally devastated but his father doesn't care less.
El Topo now confronts one after another among the Masters and by using foul tricks he is able to conquer them all.
Through this special 'catharsis' he is gradually tranformed into a more wise and self-reflective person, building a society of believers who in him see a - or - 'The Saviour'. He is by other men seen as a crazy fool, as so often with people claiming themselves having a special gift and not least if it's a spiritual one.
In the end his son will get his revenge too.
For those of you not familiar with Jodorowsky, this is not a regular Western or 'action' film, nor is it a straight forward spiritual journey. Jodorowsky combines all of this genres and aspects and from this he creates his own special aesthetics.
It's not a master piece in all its details but it's a very interesting genre-crossing experience, in which you can find interesting questions about life and death, violence and non-violence, the evolution or decline of human existence.
In short, it's a very personal film and I recommend it to those of you not necessary wanting a linear story and a totally transparent plot.
He is a mixture between a classic gunfighter à la Wild West and a samurai à la Wild East.
His goal is to confront a number of warrior Masters in order to reach a higher state of consciousness and on the same time fight those demons having haunted him for so long.
However, the journey starts with him taking his 6 year old son (Brontis Jodorowsky) into the dessert in order to make him bury his childhood totems and thus become a man.
El Topo later arrives in a village where bandits have slaughtered most people and now want to rape the young woman belonging to their leader. El Topo intervenes and avenges the massacred villagers, taking the woman as his.
Her name is Mara (not Rooney Mara but Mara Lorenzio). He rides away with Mara and leaves his son with some monks who also had been harassed by the bandits. El Topo's son becomes totally devastated but his father doesn't care less.
El Topo now confronts one after another among the Masters and by using foul tricks he is able to conquer them all.
Through this special 'catharsis' he is gradually tranformed into a more wise and self-reflective person, building a society of believers who in him see a - or - 'The Saviour'. He is by other men seen as a crazy fool, as so often with people claiming themselves having a special gift and not least if it's a spiritual one.
In the end his son will get his revenge too.
For those of you not familiar with Jodorowsky, this is not a regular Western or 'action' film, nor is it a straight forward spiritual journey. Jodorowsky combines all of this genres and aspects and from this he creates his own special aesthetics.
It's not a master piece in all its details but it's a very interesting genre-crossing experience, in which you can find interesting questions about life and death, violence and non-violence, the evolution or decline of human existence.
In short, it's a very personal film and I recommend it to those of you not necessary wanting a linear story and a totally transparent plot.
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